As it happened: PM meets with Xi Jinping in Beijing; RBA proposes ban for credit card, debit card surcharges

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Here’s a recap of today’s biggest stories:

• Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Chinese President Xi Jinping met in Beijing, kicking off high-level talks as Australia and China strive to focus on economic co-operation rather than regional military tensions. The prime minister said the conversation was guided by Australia’s national interests and is “aimed at co-operating wherever we can, disagreeing where we must”.
• Albanese discussed some of Australia’s grievances with China, including the Chinese navy’s circumnavigation of Australia earlier this year and the ongoing detention of Chinese-Australian pro-democracy activist Yang Hengjun. The prime minister is set to meet with Chinese Premier Li Qiang and on Wednesday will visit the Great Wall. The opposition has been critical of Albanese for meeting with Chinese leaders but not US President Donald Trump.
• The Federal Court has dismissed a landmark case in which Torres Strait Islands traditional owners sought to establish that the Commonwealth had breached a duty of care to protect their islands from harm caused by climate change.
• An extra 800 children will be tested for STIs after authorities revealed four more daycare centres that alleged Melbourne paedophile Joshua Dale Brown worked at. It’s another blow to Melbourne’s childcare system, which is in crisis after it was revealed Brown had been charged with abusing eight children in his care.
• Businesses would be banned from applying surcharges to all credit and debit card transactions from next year under a Reserve Bank proposal that could save Australians $1.2 billion. Businesses have hit out at the move, arguing it would force merchants to increase their prices.
• In the wake of the RBA’s shock decision to hold interest rates earlier this month, consumer confidence fell by 0.6 per cent, according to Westpac-Melbourne Institute figures. But there’s been a 0.6 per cent overall improvement in sentiment among the nation’s shoppers in July.

The Australian sharemarket has closed at its highest level for the second time in a fortnight after China reported better-than-expected quarterly economic growth.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index on Tuesday finished above 8600 for the first time, rising 59.9 points, or 0.7 per cent, to 8630.3. Ten of the 11 sectors finished in the green, with materials lower.

Mining stocks retreated. Rio Tinto lost 1.3 per cent, BHP dropped 0.9 per cent and Fortescue gave up 0.7 per cent.

The sharemarket gained on the back of a positive lead from Wall Street, which advanced after US President Donald Trump’s latest updates to his tariffs, and news that China’s economy grew more than expected.

In China, the National Bureau of Statistics reported that the world’s second-biggest economy grew at 5.2 per cent in the June quarter, slightly better than consensus estimates of 5.1 per cent growth. That resilience provides Beijing with breathing room to prepare a further policy response in case trade tensions with Washington flare up again when the current tariff truce ends in mid-August.

Read the full market wrap here.

The second legal team for alleged double murderer Beau Lamarre-Condon has stood down from representing the former police officer after “an issue arose” the day before his latest court appearance.

Lamarre-Condon, 29, has spent more than a year in prison after allegedly using his service-issued Glock pistol to shoot former partner Jesse Baird, a television presenter with whom he had allegedly become fixated, and Qantas flight attendant Luke Davies, inside a Paddington terrace in Sydney in February 2024.

Beau Lamarre-Condon (left) is charged with murdering Jesse Baird and Luke Davies.

His publicly funded lawyer Alexander Terracini was appointed in November last year, when Lamarre-Condon parted ways with his solicitor John Walford.

On Tuesday, Terracini told the Downing Centre Local Court that he and the rest of Lamarre-Condon’s legal team sought leave to withdraw from representing him after “an issue arose yesterday”.

That leave was granted, and Sydney lawyer Ben Archbold was appointed his replacement as members of Baird and Davies families watched on via video link.

Read the full story here.

Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles says he is not surprised the government’s intention to force a change of ownership of the Port of Darwin was not discussed during Anthony Albanese’s meeting with Beijing officials, saying it “wasn’t something that needed to be discussed”.

Albanese talked about economic and decarbonisation priorities with China’s Xi Jinping and also raised grievances including the ongoing detention of author Yang Hengjun and the Chinese navy’s circumnavigation of Australia earlier this year. But neither side mentioned the government’s plan to strip Chinese firm Landbridge of its 99-year lease of the port.

Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles last year. Credit: Wayne Taylor

“It’s a position he’s held for a decade, and we’ve been making our position very clear over the course of that period,” Marles told the ABC’s Afternoon Briefing.

“It’s not a particular surprise to me in those circumstance that it wasn’t raised, it wasn’t something that needed to be discussed.”

Albanese also spoke on the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement, which is set for review this year, 10 years after it was signed by the Abbott government in 2015.

The prime minister said there was a provision in the agreement for review at this point, and the government would engage in conversations with Chinese counterparts regarding the agreement.

“A range of business-to-business relationships” was also lauded as a key outcome of his China visit. Following the meeting with President Xi, Albanese is set to meet Chinese Premier Li Qiang.

Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said Anthony Albanese raised diplomatic issues with Chinese President Xi Jinping to set out Australia’s position and expectations and establish clear dialogue.

The prime minister spoke about the detention of Chinese-Australian author Yang Hengjun and Chinese naval ships’ circumnavigation of Australia, but the government’s decision to force the sale of the Chinese-owned Port of Darwin was not discussed.

Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles.Credit: AP

“It’s fundamentally about the system, and it’s about making clear what Australia’s position is,” Marles said on the ABC’s Afternoon Briefing.

“I think that is the importance of dialogue of this kind. No one is expecting every issue to be resolved between Australia and China in a meeting of this kind, but it really is important that China has a clear understanding of where we stand.”

Asked whether Donald Trump’s trade policy was affecting the Australian approach to China, the prime minister said the relationships are separate.

“Our relationship with China is very separate from that,” Albanese said. “China as our major trading partner, the destination for more than one in four of our export dollars comes here. The trade with the United States is important, but it’s less than 5 per cent.”

Albanese reiterated his stance of free and fair trade in the global economy, and said President Xi Jinping also spoke about the importance of international trade, but the prime minister did not speak on any private conversations about US trade policy between the leaders.

The prime minister was asked about negotiations to release Chinese-Australian author Yang Hengjun, who has been imprisoned in China for more than seven years, and referenced his government’s strong record in freeing detained Australians, including members of the Bali Nine and journalist Cheng Lei.

When asked if the government was doing enough to free the imprisoned author as Labor faces criticism for not pushing hard enough for his release, Albanese said the government would “put forward our views in a diplomatic way in order to try to maximise an outcome”.

Albanese said the matter had been discussed but there should not be an expectation of an immediate outcome.

“That’s not the way these things work. The way it works is by that patient, calibrated advocacy. That is what Australians do. That’s what my government does. And I point to my government’s record when it comes to these issues.”

Albanese has skirted questions regarding possible reunification efforts between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan.

“What we did was we put forward Australia’s position … which is that we want peace and security in the region, that that is in the interests of both Australia and in the interests of China,” he said.

The prime minister was later asked about the US describing China as a primary security threat.

“We have strategic competition in the region, but we continue to engage in order to support peace and security in the region and stability in the region,” Albanese said.

He also said the Port of Darwin returning to Australian hands was not discussed.

The prime minister is speaking after a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, in which the leaders discussed a number of issues including the two nations’ economic relationship and decarbonisation.

Albanese said he was “guided by Australia’s national interests” in the discussion of “the range of issues facing” the Sino-Australian relationship.

“My government’s approach to our relationship with China is patient, is calibrated, and is deliberate, and it is aimed at co-operating wherever we can, disagreeing where we must, but engaging in our national interest,” he said.

Albanese addressing the media after meeting China’s Xi Jinping.